Magazine for safety razor blades



MAGAZINE Eon SAFETY RAzoR BLADES Filed April' 1s, 1940 2 sheets-sheet 1 A ATToR Y May 9, 1944. 1 MUROS 2,348,303

l MAGAZINEFOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES Filed April 1e, 1940 2 sheets-shakira lNvENToR Patented May9, 1944 y MAGAzma Foa SAFETY Razon BLADES Joseph Muros, Cambridge, Mass., assigner to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass., v a corporation oi' Delaware i/ Application April 16, 1940, Serial No. 329,942

13 Claims.

This invention relates to safety razors of the type having a thin flexible -blade removably supported and clamped in shavingposition therein by co-operating blade-clamping members. In, one aspect the invention comprises improved mechanism for feeding a thin flexible sharpedged blade without damage to its edges from a stack for any purpose where it is desired to deal with4 one blade at a.. time, as for example, in delivering blades one by one from a magazine to a safety razor. comprises a novel combination of safety razor and magazine so organized that new sharp blades may be presented successively to the razor and used blades removed therefrom mechanically and accurately without danger of dulling to the sharp edge of the blade or of cutting the iing'ersof the In another aspect my invention user. In still another aspect the invention consists in an improved magazine for sharp and used safety razor blades. p

The problem of separating positively and accurately one thin blade after another'l from a' stack and delivering it in predetermined position to a safety razor or othe'r destination has engaged the skill and resources of blade manufacturers and distributors for many years without successful solution. This is on account of the fact that safety razor blades are often not over .007 in thickness and sometimes may be as thin-as .004". Itis extremely diilicult to separate a single blade of such thinness from a stack of blades with any assurance of accuracy and.

without serious danger 'of jamming by inadvertently moving two blades at a. time into thedischarge opening of a magazine or other receptacle. 'I'he small .thickness oi the individual blade does not afford an adequate abutment at the end of the blade for a pushing or pulling feed member and it is difficult to separate blades lying in face-to-face contact which often cohere by reason of atmospheric pressure. I have dis-- covered, however, that it is entirely practicable to separate such blades in a. stack by moving by the material on both sides.

and I utilize this space to bring vthe feeding member and the. uppermost blade of the stack in to preliminary registration. Having once'registered the feeding means with the blade in this manner the feeding means is positively guided into interlocking engagement with the blade.

More specifically, therefore, an important fea-4 ture of my invention consists in a. thin sheet metal blade-feeding member having spaced in'- wardly diverging offset edges arranged to be moved across two end corners of a blade and so shaped as to present an inclined separating -edge at one side which will pass under the edge oi the blade while the body of the feeding member is supported in sliding contact with the upper face of the blade. 'Ihe result isthat the corners of the blade are registered and parts. of the feeder pass on opposite sides of the blade. This movement of the feeder with respect to blades continues until the blade corners are fully engaged When this happens the slide is advanced with the interlocked blade to the desired point and then upon retracting movement of the feeding slide the blade is disengaged and left in the desired position.

The oiset edges may be formed in the feed slide by cutting oblique slots therein and then depressing one edge of the slot with respect to the other, or by folding side portions of the slide over its body and properly shaping the inturned edges, or in any other satisfactory manner.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the iollowing description' of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are end viewsy of the magazine v in position on the razor;

sharp edged members into the wedge-shaped. l

space formed by the diverging bevelled faces between two adjacent blades, but in order to separate blades in this manner it is imperative that. their cutting edges escape all contact of the lfeeding means. Accordingly, -I Vpropose to contact the blades by nrst engaging them at corners formed by the bevelledV edges and the end edge of the blade or a shoulder in the end of the blade. In a stack of blades .006" thick the opening of the longitudinaly V-shaped channels be- Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are plan views showing the magazine upon the razor in three dierent positions: l

Fig. 7 is a view of the razor and magazine in attached relation showing the razor in longitudinal section andthe magazine in elevation;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the razor and magazine with the 'parts in the position they occupy at the end of the blade-delivering step; f

Fig. 9 is an end view of the magazine containing a stack of new blades:

Fig. 10 is a corresponding view of the magazine containing a stack of used blades;

Fig. ll is a view in perspective ofthe main shell of the magazine; l

Fig.

tween adjacent cutting edges is .006" in .width Ile mediate partition member of the xnagazinei 12 is a corresponding view of the interv Fig. 13 isa view in perspective of the magazine spring;

Fig. 14 is a .fragmentary plan View on an enlarged lscale of the blade-feeding member engaged with a' blade:

Fig. 15 is an end view of the blade-feeding member;

Fig. 16'is a sectional view on the line Iii- IS of Fig. 14;

Fig. 17 is a cross-sectional view on the line I1-I1 of Fig. 14;

Fig. 18 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of a blade shown with an alternative form oi' feed slide.

The magazine of my invention is herein shown vas in an embodiment designed particularly for use in connection lwith the safety razor of my prior Patent N0. 1,953,685, April 3, 1934, a1

though as already stated my inventionmay be embodied in magazines adapted for use with other types of4 safety razors. In the present drawings only so much of the razor construction is shown as is needed for a full understanding of the invention and for other details of construction reference may be had to my said patent.

part tol the blade the presenting and withdrawing movements which have Just been described.

The razor and magazine in their illustrated embodiments are shown asdesigned to take blades of the well-known Gillette type.. 'Ihese blades 40 are o! thin flexible steel .004" to .006"

in thickness, sharpened along both longitudinal edges and having shoulders 4I delining elongated, unsharpened end portions 42. The blades As herein shown the razor comprises a handle II carrying at its upper end a blade-supporting or guard member Il which supplies a seat for the blade and is provided with marginal guard teeth. The guard member III is longitudinally shouldered so that the blade may be iiexed upon it and co-operates with a cap member I4 having a concave blade-engaging face.. The handle II carries a spindle I'I in which is plvotally mounted a retainer or connector having two spaced and iianged sectors I2 and I3 shaped to engage in an undercut recess or guideway which is providedl in the concave face of the cap. The connector has an eccentric portion in its periphery .be-

tween the sectors I2 and I3 and co-operates with a spring detent I5 in the spindle I1, being held yieldingly in position with one sector or the other interlocked with the recess of the cap. In Fig. 'I the sector I2 is shown-as in its interlocking position, there being no blade in the razor.

When a slottedblade is presented endwise and moved toward the left into the razor the end edge of the blade encounters the sector I2 and rocks the connector in a counter-clockwise direction. The sector I2 is thus disengaged from the cap I4 and the sector I3 is swung upwardly, passing through the slot in the blade and vguard interlocking with the cap as the sector I2 disengages it and'clears the space between the blade-clamping members of the razor"V for the passage of the new blade. When the blade has been fully presented the sector I3 occupies `the position in point of the eccentric portion of the connector are engaged by their shoulders 4I in the withdrawing and presenting movements which are 4imparted to them as will presently appear. The blades are provided with a central'longitudinal slot 43 by which they are located both in the magazine and in the razor.

The magazine has a main shellof sheel metal, as best shown in Fig. 11, rectangular in outline and comprising upper and lower compartments. The upper compartment is ,formed by the top wall 20 of the shell, its side walls and an inserted partition 22 having its ends flanged and turned up to provide a rear wall 24 and a front wall 26. The side wallsof the main shell are shouldered and offset inwardly and the oiset side walls 2| are provided with inturned flanges 23. The offset side walls 2l, the partition 22 and the flanges 23 form the lower compartment of the magazine and in this compartment the used blades are accumulated while the stack of new, sharp blades is contained in the upper compartment ofl the magazine. Y

The sheet metal partition 22 is of such dimensions as to fit snugly within lthe main shell of the magazine, resting upon the shoulders formed by the'inwardly offset walls 2l and with the rear wall 24 completely closes the rear end of this compartment of the magazine. The front wall 26 has a central opening through which projects s an arm 25 of such shape as to t securely into proper relation to the razor for presenting a blade thereto and detachably to maintain the razor and magazine in attached relation while a blade v is being supplied to the razor. The sections of the front wall 26 are cut away at their upper edge to provide a discharge opening or slot adjacent to the inner surface of the top 20 of the magazine. The body of the partition 22 is slotted and its material is turned 'up to form a central longitudinal rib 21 shaped to fit the slot 43 of the blades and thus to hold them positively in has been forced pastthe spring detent I5. With the blade so positioned the spindle I1 is drawn down by turning a 'knurled head not shown in these drawings and the blade is'clamped in shaving position. At the` conclusion of the shaving blade-clamping members I0 and I4 are separated. The blade may then be withdrawn by which will now be described is designed to -imalignment in the magazine with their sharp edges out of contact with the wallsof the magazine as shown in Figs. 1-3 and 9. It will be noted that the rib 21 occupies the forward end of the magazine and that a space is thus left between the rear end of the blade stack and the rear wall 24 of the magazine. This'space is utilized in part forl the blade-feeding slide al lwhich will now be described. l l

The blade-feedingy slide 3l consists of a rectangular piece of thin sheet metal, preferably of v i about the same thickness as the blades which are operation the'spindie I'IA is released and the to be handled. Itis of such dimensions as to fit within the upper compartment of the magazine and ismaintained in contact with the inner face of the upper wall 20 of the magazine by connection vwith va knob I2. The shank of the knob -passes through a longitudinal slot I9 in the top wall of the magazine 'and by manipulating the knob the feed slide may be moved freely from one' end of the magazine to the other. Near its advancing edge the feed slide is provided in its body with a pair oi inwardly lconvergent slots ayudaba l spaced apart so that when the'feed slide is passed over the uppermost blade in the stack, located by the rib 21, the slots 33 intersect or pass across the sharpened edges and shoulder corners of the blade. The-material of the slide forming the rear edge of the slots 33 has' a concavity 33 imparted to it so that in the advancing feeding movement of the slide the following edges of the divergent slots are displaced downwardly or oifset as compared to the leading edges of the slots. The result is that the leading end of the slide 3| and the leading edge of the slot passes over the uppermost blade in the stack while the folinto the space between the blade-clamping members of the razor.

The feed slide 3i is so proportioned that it never moves to the right beyond the end of the uppermost blade in the blade stackand conversely the rib 21 locates the stack of blades so -that the uppermost blade is -always overlapped by the feed slide 3|. 'Ihe latter, of course, moves always in contact with the innerv face of the 'top wall 20 of the magazine. 'I'he magazine contains a bowed spring 29, best shown in Fig. 13, the center section of this being provided with a longitudinal slot 30 fitting with clearance over the 'rib 21. The two outer sections of the spring 29 bear upon the under side of the blade stack as shown in Fig. '7 and press the stack yieldingly upwardly against the feed slide 3l and the top of the magazine.

The initial position of the feed slide with re spect to the upper blade t3 is shown in Fig. 15

from which it will be apparent that the feed slide overlaps. the unsharpened end portion 42 of the blade. Accordingly when the feed slide is moved toward the left in its predtermined path the slots 33 pass over the bevelled corners of the blade. In this movement, the front edge of both slots passes above the blade whereas the depressed following edge of each slot passes beneath the bevelled corner of the blade, and into the V-shaped spacebetween that blade and the next. Asthe slide advances to the position shown in Fig. 14 the points of contact of each slot move inwardly and the effect is that of moving thin separating edges simultaneously inwardly from the blade corners. When the interlocking relationship of Fig. 14 is reached the blade is symmetrically engaged in a balanced manner-and is advanced without tendency to lateral deflection.

The blade is presented -to the razor by moving the feed slide, through the medium of the knob 32, to the left-hand limit of its path as determined by the slot I9. In this movement the connector |2-I3 of the razor is rocked as already described and the blade is located in the razor by suitable ribs provided for that purpose on the say,the compartment formed by theinwardly odset walls 2l below the partition22. The inturned flanges 23 in which the walls 2l terminate I are spaced apart by the width of the cap member I3 oi' the razor. A short distance within the forward end of the walls 2| is provided a pair of inturned vertical ears 31. A pair of corresponding ears 33 is formed at an intermediate point in the walls 2l such as to confine between the ears 31 and 33 a stack `of used blades. The vertical ears 31 and 33 engage the shoulders 4I of the vblades holding the blades in an aligned vstack but permitting vertical movement thereof. The center section of the spring 23 is bowed downwardly and engages the stack of blades located by the ears 31 and 33, pressing them always downwardly but permitting them to be forced inwardly from time t0 time.

When it is desired to remove a used vblade from the razor the magazine is positioned as shown in Figs. l and d-being registered transversely on the cap I3 by the flanges 23 andlongitudinally by -the ears 31-33. The whole magazine is then forced bodily downwardly deectlng the blade 43 over the shoulders of the guard member I0 and so narrowing the blade that finally it snaps past 'the flanges 23 and attens out again within the magazine. l One blade is shown in this position in Fig. 3. The cap I4 has, of course, been released from -bladeclamping pressure and the magazine may now bodily .bemoved toward the right whereupon the blade is forcibly ejected by the ears 31 which engages the two rear corners as suggested, in Fig. 5. In this figure the magazine is shown as moved part way toward the right and the blade is represented as havingl been moved not quite half way out of the razor. As successive blades` are withdrawn in the manner thus outlined the stack of used blades 4U builds up in the lower compartment of themagazine assuggested in Fig. 10, at each operation the spring 29 permit- In rigs. 14-17 the feed suse is shown as a dat piece of thin sheet metal with oblique oiiset edges supplied by divergent slots therein. The same guard member I 0. The spindle I1 is then drawn result is secured by a different construction as suggested in Fig. 18. In this `instance the edge portions 5I of the sheet metal slide are folded inwardly over the ybody of the material and are bevelled so that their advancingy edges diverge in the same sense as the slots 33. The oblique edgesof the inturned portions 5I are, therefore, offset from the plane of the vfeed slide just as are the following edges of the slots 33.- The intuined portions 5I are united to the body of the slide by spot welds 32 which supply positive abutments for engaging the shoulders of the blade. In Fig. 18 is included a cross-sectional view of thefeed slide and` it Will be apparent that in this figure the slide is shown reversed in position as compared to th'e position of the its normal operating position.

It will be apparent that while a feeding memslide shown in Figs. 14-16, that is. inverted from ber having spaced convergent slots 33 willsymmetrically interlock with a blade and advance it without tendency to lateral deflection, the-separating function of the slide may be eifectedby a single obliquely arranged 'edge and in handling a single edge blade this is all that is necessary because a stationary guide ilange may be provided for engaging the edge of the blade and holding it in a straight line path. Such a structure is contemplated and included in the scope of the accompanying claims, in which I claim s new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:v

1. A ,magazine having a flat slotted top, a thin sheet metal feed slide having' operating means extending through the slot whereby it v lcorners of the blade, the 1eading sides of said slots being elevated with respect to the following sides thereof.

may be reciprocated in contact with the top of the magazine, the feed slide having slots providing spaced divergent edges olf-set below 'its body, and means for pressing ajstack of blades at all times toward the slide in a positlonalways overlapping its path of reciprocation and placing corners of the blade in line with the divergent edges f said slide.

2. In a blade magazines feed slide of thin sheet metal having side portions inturned over its body and bevelled to present spaced divergent edges oifset inwardly from the plane of the slide.

3. Mechanism for feeding thin safety razor blades, including an elongated enclosure,a feed I the blade between itself and the body of the slide.

9. In a vblade magazine having side, top and end walls, means therein for holding a stack of bevelled edge blades with their edges registering one above another and separated by V-shaped channels presented by the bevelled edges of the blades, and a thin .feed slide movable bodily in the magazine and having an edge oblique with l respect to the bevelled blade edges and shaped slide movable bodily in a fixed path thereinV and f having in a location substantially behind its advancing end a blade-engaging edge which is disposed. obliquely with respect to the path ofmovement of the slide and oilset from the body of the slide not less than half the thickness of the blade to be handled nor substantially more than the full blade thickness..

4. Mechanism for feeding one by one from a stack thin double-edged razor blades, comprising means for holding theblades of a stack in vertical ali'gnment, and a thin ilat'feed slide bodily movable in sliding contact with the outer face of asblade so held in the stack and having a forward portion bounded by forwardly diverging edges which portion passes on one side of the blade when the slide is advanced, followed closely by a'rear portion bounded by rearwardly converging edges offset. inwardly from the plane of the slide, which rear portion passes on theother side of the blade whereby the blade is engaged on opposite sides in a balanced manner by vdifferent portions of the feed slide.

5. In a blade magazine having side, top and end walls, a sheet metal feed slide movable bodily in a predetermined path always in contact with one wall of the magazine, means for locating a stack of blades in the magazine. so that the stack is always overlapped by the feed slide, and means for yieldingly pressing the stack against the slide, the slide being provided with divergent slots, each having an edge divergent with respect to the other and offset inwardly from the plane of the slide to overlap the corners of a blade in said I stack.

to enter said V-shaped channel in separating one blade of the stack from another.

10. In a blade magazine having side, top and end walls, an enclosure having means for locating a blade therein, and a sheet metal bladefeeder movable bodily in the enclosure and having slots oblique to its path of movement and depressed portions located in position to receive the corners of the blade when the feeder is moved with respect to a blade held by said locating means.

' 11. In a blade magazine, anelongated enclosure having side, top and end walls, means for locating a stack of sharpened blades therein, and a spring blade-feeder having convergent slots with one side wall of each slot depressed. the feeder being movable bodily in a fixed path with respect to the stack of blades heid by said locating means.

l2. Mechanism for feeding one by one from a stack thin double-edged razor blades, comprising means for holding the blades of a stack inl vertical alignment, and a thin fiat feed slide cooperating with said holding means and bodily movable in sliding contact with the outer face of a blade so held in the stack and having a forward portion bounded by forwardly diverging edges which portion passes on one side of the blade when the slide is advanced, followed closely by a rear portion bounded by rearwardly converging edges offset inwardly fromthe plane of thev feed slide,'which rear portion passes on the other side of the blade whereby the blade is engaged on opposite sides in a balanced manner by different portions of the feed slide.

13. A blade magazine comprising means for enclosing a stack of safety razor blades, means for with the outermost blade of the stack and having convergent edges located out of the surface plane of the feeder and below the plane of said outer- 4 most blade.. y

'1.V In a blade magazine having side, top and end walls, means for locating-therein a stackof sharpened blades, a sheet metal -slide movable bodily in the magazine in yielding contact with the stack and having'slots oblique to its path of movement, the slots being movable across the locating the blades stacked one above another within the enclosing means, a spring for disengaging one blade at a time from said blade-locating means, and blade-feeding means including c. thin-nat slide bodily movable above the blade stack and in contact therewith and having rear-I wardly converging edges offset inwardly from the plane of the slide, arranged to pass beneath the uppermost blade ofthe stack and separate it from those lower down in the stack as the slide is advanced.

JOSEPH MUR/OS. 

